Monday

It's a piece of advice yogis have given for thousands of years:
take a deep breath and relax. Watch the tension melt from your muscles
and all your niggling worries vanish. Somehow we all know that
relaxation is good for us.

Now the hard science has caught up: a comprehensive scientific study
showing that deep relaxation changes our bodies on a genetic level has
just been published. What researchers at Harvard Medical School
discovered is that, in long-term practitioners of relaxation methods
such as yoga and meditation, far more ''disease-fighting genes'' were
active, compared to those who practised no form of relaxation.

In particular, they found genes that protect from disorders such as
pain, infertility, high blood pressure and even rheumatoid arthritis
were switched on. The changes, say the researchers, were induced by what
they call ''the relaxation effect'', a phenomenon that could be just as
powerful as any medical drug but without the side effects. ''We
found a range of disease-fighting genes were active in the relaxation
practitioners that were not active in the control group,'' Dr
Herbert Benson, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical
School, who led the research, says. The good news for the control group
with the less-healthy genes is that the research didn't stop there.

The experiment, which showed just how responsive genes are to behaviour,
mood and environment, revealed that genes can switch on, just as easily
as they switch off. ''Harvard researchers asked the control group to
start practising relaxation methods every day,'' says Jake Toby,
hypnotherapist at London's BodyMind Medicine Centre, who teaches clients
how to induce the relaxation effect. ''After two months, their
bodies began to change: the genes that help fight inflammation, kill
diseased cells and protect the body from cancer all began to switch
on.''

More encouraging still, the benefits of the relaxation effect were found
to increase with regular practice: the more people practised relaxation
methods such as meditation or deep breathing, the greater their chances
of remaining free of arthritis and joint pain with stronger immunity,
healthier hormone levels and lower blood pressure. Benson
believes the research is pivotal because it shows how a person's state
of mind affects the body on a physical and genetic level. It might also
explain why relaxation induced by meditation or repetitive mantras is
considered to be a powerful remedy in traditions such as Ayurveda in
India or Tibetan medicine.

But just how can relaxation have such wide-ranging and powerful effects?
Research has described the negative effects of stress on the body.
Linked to the release of the stress-hormones adrenalin and cortisol,
stress raises the heart rate and blood pressure, weakens immunity and
lowers fertility. By contrast, the state of relaxation is linked to
higher levels of feel-good chemicals such as serotonin and to the growth
hormone which repairs cells and tissue. Indeed, studies show that
relaxation has virtually the opposite effect, lowering heart rate,
boosting immunity and enabling the body to thrive.

''On a biological level, stress is linked to fight-flight and danger,''
Dr Jane Flemming, a London GP, says. ''In survival mode, heart rate
rises and blood pressure shoots up. Meanwhile muscles, preparing for
danger, contract and tighten. And non-essential functions such as
immunity and digestion go by the wayside.'' Relaxation, on the other
hand, is a state of rest, enjoyment and physical renewal. Free of
danger, muscles can relax and food can be digested. The heart can slow
and blood circulation flows freely to the body's tissues, feeding it
with nutrients and oxygen. This restful state is good for fertility, as
the body is able to conserve the resources it needs to generate new
life.

While relaxation techniques can be very different, their biological
effects are essentially similar. ''When you relax, the parasympathetic
nervous system switches on. That is linked to better digestion, memory
and immunity, among other things,'' Toby says. ''As long as you relax
deeply, you'll reap the rewards.'' But, he warns, deep relaxation isn't
the sort of switching off you do relaxing with a cup of tea or lounging
on the sofa.

''What you're looking for is a state of deep relaxation where tension is
released from the body on a physical level and your mind completely
switches off,'' he says. ''The effect won't be achieved by lounging
round in an everyday way, nor can you force yourself to relax. You can
only really achieve it by learning a specific technique such as
self-hypnosis, guided imagery or meditation.''

The relaxation effect, however, may not be as pronounced on everyone.
''Some people are more susceptible to relaxation methods than others,''
says Joan Borysenko, director of a relaxation program for outpatients at
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre in Boston. ''Through relaxation,
we find some people experience a little improvement, others a lot. And
there are a few whose lives turn around totally.''

7 Health Benefits of Deep Relaxation

The next time you tune out and switch off and let yourself melt, remind
yourself of all the good work the relaxation effect is doing on your
body. These are just some of the scientifically proven benefits …

1. INCREASED IMMUNITY

Relaxation appears to boost immunity in recovering cancer patients. A
study at the Ohio State University found that progressive muscular
relaxation, when practised daily, reduced the risk of breast cancer
recurrence. In another study at Ohio State, a month of relaxation
exercises boosted natural killer cells in the elderly, giving them a
greater resistance to tumours and to viruses.

2. EMOTIONAL BALANCE

Emotional balance, means to be free of all the neurotic behavior that
results from the existence of a tortured and traumatized ego. This is
very hard to achieve fully, but meditation certainly is the way to cure
such neurosis and unhealthy emotional states. As one’s consciousness is
cleansed of emotionally soaked memories, not only does great freedom
abound, but also great balance. As one’s responses then are not colored
by the burdens one carries, but are instead true, direct and
appropriate.

3. INCREASED FERTILITY

A study at the University of Western Australia found that women are more
likely to conceive during periods when they are relaxed rather than
stressed. A study at Trakya University, in Turkey, also found that
stress reduces sperm count and motility, suggesting relaxation may also
boost male fertility.

4. RELIEVES IRRITABLE BOWEL SYNDROME

When patients suffering from irritable bowel syndrome began practising a
relaxation meditation twice daily, their symptoms of bloating,
diarrhoea and constipation improved significantly. The meditation was so
effective the researchers at the State University of New York
recommended it as an effective treatment.

5. LOWERS BLOOD PRESSURE

A study at Harvard Medical School found that meditation lowered blood
pressure by making the body less responsive to stress hormones, in a
similar way to blood pressure-lowering medication. Meanwhile a British
Medical Journal report found that patients trained how to relax had
significantly lower blood pressure.

6. ANTI-INFLAMATORY

Stress leads to inflammation, a state linked to heart disease,
arthritis, asthma and skin conditions such as psoriasis, say researchers
at Emory University in the US. Relaxation can help prevent and treat
such symptoms by switching off the stress response. In this way, one
study at McGill University in Canada found that meditation clinically
improved the symptoms of psoriasis.

7. CALMNESS

The simple difference between those who meditate and those who do not,
is that for a meditative mind the thought occurs but is witnessed, while
for an ordinary mind, the thought occurs and is the boss. So in both
minds, an upsetting thought can occur, but for those who meditate it is
just another thought, which is seen as such and is allowed to blossom
and die, while in the ordinary mind the thought instigates a storm which
rages on and on.

How to switch off stress

How can you use relaxation's healing powers? Harvard researchers found
that yoga, meditation and even repetitive prayer and mantras all induced
the relaxation effect. ''The more regularly these techniques are
practised, the more deeply rooted the benefits will be,'' Jake Toby
says. Try one or more of these techniques for 15 minutes once or twice a
day.

Body Scan: Starting with your head and working down to
your arms and feet, notice how you feel in your body. Taking in your
head and neck, simply notice if you feel tense, relaxed, calm or
anxious. See how much you can spread any sensations of softness and
relaxation to areas of your body that feel tense. Once your reach your
feet, work back up your body.

Breath Focus: Sit comfortably. Tune into your breath,
follow the sensation of inhaling from your nose to abdomen and out
again. Let tension go with each exhalation. When you notice your mind
wandering, return to your breath.

Mantra Repetition: The relaxation response can be
evoked by sitting quietly with eyes closed for 15 minutes twice a day,
and mentally repeating a simple word or sound such as ''Om''.

Guided Imagery: Imagine a wonderfully relaxing light or
a soothing waterfall washing away tension from your body and mind. Make
your image vivid, imagining texture, colour and any fragrance as the
image washes over you.